Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Highkicker79
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Joined: 15 Apr 2012, 6:12pm
Location: UK

Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Highkicker79 »

Vorpal wrote:There is loads of good advice on this thread viewtopic.php?f=7&t=69901


This is great info. I will definitely do that from now on. I fear I've missed the boat on this most recent incident as it's already been 6 days and I haven't reported it to the Police. I will make sure I make the effort going forward though, yes it seems a lot of hassle but my actions could help save lives in future and similar action from someone else may help save my life (i.e. what goes around comes around).
pliptrot
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by pliptrot »

Having been knocked off and then reporting the incident -complete with registration and witness (who was prepared to testify that it was a deliberate act, as I maintained) - to the police, I now know better. Having spent 10 minutes bleeding on their counter whilst they looked for a pen that worked, my only thought (admittedly I was in shock at the time) was that "these clowns care less about me than the pillock who just tried to kill me." They did nothing, of course, despite many follow-ups. I told the dangerously stupid officer "in charge" that I had discovered the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle. He told me that if I took any action - including knocking on the door of said keeper- the police would take action - against me.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

You are entitled to write and request compensation for injuries...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
xbnm
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Joined: 4 Aug 2014, 11:16am

Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by xbnm »

I report it via there website (Northumbria police) wright out a statement in word first copy and paste it into there web form mention i have video. I generally then get a phone call back they ring arrange an appointment and come to look at the video and take matters from there. If i am going to the trouble to report it i put the original video on a DVD,printout the word version and show them the relevant section on a tablet when they visit. On one occasion they videoed the video on a phone to show the driver.

Be prepared for a little negotiation along the lines we have checked them out, there not a bad person, no history etc, Ive always answered this with Ive been over a car bonnet i am sure they weren't a "bad" person but it wasn't a pleasant for me or them and not bad people have caused deaths before.
iviehoff
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by iviehoff »

pliptrot wrote:Having been knocked off and then reporting the incident -complete with registration and witness (who was prepared to testify that it was a deliberate act, as I maintained) - to the police, I now know better. Having spent 10 minutes bleeding on their counter whilst they looked for a pen that worked, my only thought (admittedly I was in shock at the time) was that "these clowns care less about me than the pillock who just tried to kill me." They did nothing, of course, despite many follow-ups. I told the dangerously stupid officer "in charge" that I had discovered the name and address of the registered keeper of the vehicle. He told me that if I took any action - including knocking on the door of said keeper- the police would take action - against me.

I think if you have evidence of actual damage occurring and a witness, and they take no action, the next stage is the Police Complaints Authority.
basingstoke123
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Joined: 13 Feb 2008, 10:05pm

Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by basingstoke123 »

A near miss is just that - a miss. Without an actual accident, its very unlikely that the police will be interested - whatever we might think as cyclists. Careless or dangerous driving is unlikely to lead to a prosecution without it resulting in an accident first.

I don't think this is an anti-cyclist attitude. The same happens in other areas. Last year I had a call claiming to be from my credit card company asking if I had just made an on-line transaction as they had detected suspicious activity. I hadn't, so was given a reference number and told to phone my bank. I became suspicious when I heard a not very convincing dialling tone and realised that the person had not hung up. Presumably the idea was they would 'answer' pretending to be my bank, so as to get my banking details. So, I phoned my bank using my mobile instead. Then, tried to report it to the police, who fobbed me off with "Action Fruad" who were completely uninterested as I had not actually been defrauded ("there' not very much we can do"). I tried BT, but they would only trace the call if the Police (but not Action Fraud) asked them to. In my view, this was attempted theft.

It does seem wrong that the authorities seem to wait until a crime or 'accident' has actually occurred instead of acting on unsuccessful attempts.

Getting back to road incidents: most cases involve two motor vehicles, and unless someone is actually interested, the only interest the police seem to have is getting the accident removed. It's up to the insurance companies to apportion blame, even when it's beyond doubt that one party was, at least, careless (eg hitting the car in front at a road junction).
thirdcrank
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by thirdcrank »

I think there are two quite separate things here, both with the same result: inaction.

It seems pretty clear to me that once a situation has been reached nationally, where only the most serious of crashes are investigated, then near misses are unlikely to receive greater attention.

The retail banks don't like doing anything which may frighten the horses, or in this case which will cast doubt on their security. The losses to a bank need to be substantial before they agree to a criminal investigation, with the attendant publicity.
TonyR
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Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by TonyR »

When I got knocked off I went afterwards to the local police station to report it. Filled in a one page form with driver and witness driver details. Driver and witness didn't respond to follow up letters and I was about to give up when the police phoned me to check I had the driver's correct details (she had given me a false address) and gave me the details of her insurance company. I then made a claim to the insurance company who rejected it with a denial by the driver and a claim I had thrown myself off my bike. I then contacted the police and found they had visited and interviewed both the driver and witness. Although they had taken no further action they provided me with copies of their interview statements which demolished the insurance company's case and driver's denial. They still took it to the Court steps before settling in full but without the police I would have had to write it all off. So even if it doesn't help all the time I would now always report it to the police because it can work some of the time at least.
Highkicker79
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Joined: 15 Apr 2012, 6:12pm
Location: UK

Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by Highkicker79 »

TonyR wrote:When I got knocked off I went afterwards to the local police station to report it. Filled in a one page form with driver and witness driver details. Driver and witness didn't respond to follow up letters and I was about to give up when the police phoned me to check I had the driver's correct details (she had given me a false address) and gave me the details of her insurance company. I then made a claim to the insurance company who rejected it with a denial by the driver and a claim I had thrown myself off my bike. I then contacted the police and found they had visited and interviewed both the driver and witness. Although they had taken no further action they provided me with copies of their interview statements which demolished the insurance company's case and driver's denial. They still took it to the Court steps before settling in full but without the police I would have had to write it all off. So even if it doesn't help all the time I would now always report it to the police because it can work some of the time at least.


I hate insurance companies, they're so quick to take your money but when it comes to providing the service they should be providing, they're as slippery as a wet bar of soap.
thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Any success reporting a near miss to the Police?

Post by thirdcrank »

TonyR

I find your experience interesting and to some extent reassuring. When the early discussions took place about reducing police attendance at traffic accidents AKA advising more people who ring to report accidents that they need only exchange details, experienced traffic police queried what would happen in cases where false details were given. It's worth mentioning that in the days when the police did attend and investigate more accidents, anybody who initially decided only to exchange details but then found they had been stiffed was likely to get little sympathy if they later reported the accident to try to get the other party's details. Assurances were made that people who exchanged details would not be let down in these circumstances. The subsequent developments are all after my time, but I remember, perhaps a decade ago, when police forces' websites carried details of which collisions would be attended, some at least included an assurance along those lines.

After a crash, especially where there's no injury, IME a lot of people just want to reinstate their car at no cost to their no claims bonus. Prosecution is not on their agenda and is even less desirable to them when the possibility of being called to give evidence emerges. Injury accidents - and that's most crashes between a motor vehicle and a cyclist - are a different matter, or they should be. Unfortunately, under the guise of concentrating on serious crashes, there seems to have been a substantial loss of official interest in "minor injury" accidents. It's been suggested that the evidence for this includes a lot of hospital-visit injuries to vulnerable road users not appearing in the police stats. It's my impression and nothing more that KSI - killed or seriously injured is often interpreted as "any possibility of their being a Coroner's inquest." My wife was recently watching an episode of a telly documentary called Traffic Cops or something similar. (It features our local police force and our neighbours' twin sons have "starred" in it.) One bit that I caught included the scene of a bad smash. The police at the scene received info from the paramedics that the casualty was failing and an officer explained the effect of an inquest.

The point I'm trying to make is that this apparent downgrading of injury collisions is detrimental to the interests of vulnerable road users.
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Edit to add:

I've just found this which I think is relevant to my post at the bottom of the previous page.

http://www.leedscyclingcampaign.co.uk/?q=node/653

It's an account of a meeting arranged by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner with cyclists unhappy about the police response to collisions etc. I think it's very important to note that the PCC attended in person, rather than just writing some waffle. It needs lots more meetings like this up and down the land. The PCC's need to be waking up in the night worrying about meeting more complaining cyclists.

One very regrettable thing - if I've understood this correctly - is that the chief inspector who was in charge of road policing has been replaced by an inspector. In an organisation like the police, the rank of the person in charge of a department is really significant. Until about twenty years ago, there was a traffic inspector in every division in West Yorkshire and the motorway unit had five, with a chief inspector in charge. This isn't about the quality of the individuals concerned. Mark Bownass who is mentioned in that link is one of my neighbours and a jolly fine chap he is too. In the clamour for resources, a uniform chief inspector - now apparently replaced by an inspector - will not get a look in as compared with all the detective chief superintendents investigating "real crime."
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